Chapter 53: The Duel Between the Brothers, Koji and Koji, Against Iwakatsu
“Okay.” Yan Sheng agreed to my request without hesitation and stepped into the lotus pond in the winding wooden corridor.
Seeing that Yan Sheng agreed to help, I quickly made the hundreds of shadow clones in that room disappear, and the originally slightly crowded lotus pond immediately became spacious.
When Douma saw Iwakatsu enter, he said with a fake smile, "Isn't this Lord Kokushibo? What brings you here?"
Shinobu and Kanao's expressions turned serious when they saw the Upper Moon One mark in Iwakatsu's eyes. Meanwhile, Inosuke, wielding his Nichirin Blade, charged towards Iwakatsu and was immediately knocked unconscious by a single blow.
Well, that's good. Iwakatsu showed mercy, otherwise Inosuke would have had his hand severed in no time!
Fearing that Iwakatsu might accidentally injure friendly forces again, I walked into the lotus pond and waved to Shinobu and Kanao on the wooden corridor, saying, "Don't worry, Iwakatsu is not an enemy. I asked him to come and help deal with Doma."
My shadow clones had previously cooperated with these two female swordsmen against Doma, so they had developed some rapport. Although they were somewhat skeptical when they heard me say this, they were at least slightly relieved.
Douma waved his fan, still laughing heartlessly, "Is Lord Kokushibo going to betray that lord?"
Iwakatsu didn't bother with any more words and drew his sword, prompting Doma to ask with interest, "How does Lord Kokushibo plan to deal with me? Although I'm one rank lower than you, I'm still very strong, and even if Lord Kokushibo cuts off my head, I won't die."
"So noisy!"
Iwakatsu coldly uttered the word, and in the next instant, he appeared behind Doma, whose head fell directly to the ground. It was a move so fast that no one could see the sword swing! In fact, Iwakatsu's swordsmanship had already reached a superb level, but unfortunately, he was completely overwhelmed when facing Yoriichi.
With his head severed, Douma's body began to collapse. However, he felt neither fear of death nor resentment at defeat. Instead, he asked with great confusion, "How come Lord Kokushibo's sword has the same effect as the Nichirin Blade?"
Not only him, but also Shinobu Kocho and Kanao looked at his sword with surprise, probably because they didn't expect that Upper Moon One's sword could also kill demons.
Yan Sheng remained silent, but the long sword in his hand, covered in eyes that seemed to be forged from flesh and blood, suddenly began to slowly shed its outer layer of flesh...
It turned out that this sword was not a demon blade forged from Iwakatsu's flesh and blood, but merely covered with a layer of bloody skin. When that unsightly layer of flesh and blood was removed, what was revealed was a blade radiating a cold moonlight, which was none other than the Nichirin Blade that Iwakatsu used when he was the Moon Pillar.
Upon seeing the words "Demon Slayer" on the hilt, Shinobu and Kanao widened their eyes in disbelief. As for Doma, he chuckled and said, "So Lord Kokushibo's sword is a Nichirin Blade. No wonder! It's a real shame we didn't get to eat Shinobu!"
After saying that, he turned to dust and disappeared completely. I regret that Douma died so quickly; there wasn't time to kick his head around like a ball. Even in his dying moments, he was thinking of eating people—what a scoundrel!
I walked up to Kanao and said, "As agreed, can you give me the item now?"
This was a deal my shadow clones made with her: I would help her defeat Doma, and in return, she would give me the medicine that Shinobu had left for Kanao to turn demons back into humans. I just didn't expect Upper Moon Two to be so difficult; even with so many of us combined, we still couldn't defeat him.
Of course, the main reason is that my shadow clones aren't of high quality, and the ice sculptures he conjured were both large and difficult to deal with. Even a numbers strategy wasn't very effective, which is why Douma has been so arrogant until now. Thanks to Iwakatsu, he really dealt with this troublesome guy with ease.
Kanao handed me the potion as promised, while Shinobu Kocho said with a serious expression, "Upper Moon One was once a Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, right?"
"So what if it is?" Iwakatsu said coldly, which immediately caused Shinobu Kocho to show an almost uncontrollable expression of anger, probably because she was angry at his betrayal.
Although I was also a little angry about Yan Sheng switching jobs to the boss, I couldn't accept people looking at him like a traitor, so I directly explained.
"Katsumi didn't join the Demon Slayer Corps because he hated demons. He only started killing demons to improve his swordsmanship and surpass his younger brother who used the Sun Breathing technique. Later, he found it difficult to surpass Yoriichi, so he chose to become a more powerful demon. Also, after becoming a demon, Katsumi deliberately injected himself with a drug that prevented him from eating human flesh, so he doesn't eat people."
Upon hearing that Upper Moon One didn't eat people, Shinobu's expression immediately softened considerably, and her hostility diminished significantly. She then asked, "I'm going to kill Muzan. Are you coming too?"
"You guys go first, I'll come over in a bit." I said, holding the potion in my hand. Shinobu Kocho seemed to understand something, nodded, and left with Kanao and Inosuke, who had just woken up.
I turned to look at Yan Sheng, then threw myself into his arms and injected the potion that turned the demon into a human into his body.
If I could, I really wouldn't want to do something that would make Yoriichi look like a cuckold, but as a demon who has lived for hundreds of years and has an exceptionally rich combat experience, it would be almost impossible to inject him with the drug by surprise. I could only create an opening that he couldn't escape.
Because he was certain that Yan Sheng would not push me away the moment I threw myself into his arms, he made the move of throwing himself into my arms. He only needed to hesitate for a moment to be able to inject the drug.
As it turned out, my judgment was correct. Yan Sheng did not push me away, allowing me to inject the medicine into his body completely smoothly, almost unbelievably.
After injecting all the medicine that would turn a ghost into a human, I said with some guilt, "I'm sorry for injecting the medicine that would turn you back into a human without your consent."
From then on, Yan Sheng would have to endure birth, aging, sickness and death, and would never be able to have a long life again. His actions were indeed quite excessive.
Even though he was unwilling, I had to do it. With Muzan dead, Iwakatsu, who could create demons with his own blood, would be qualified to become the new Demon King. And if, with the advancement of medicine, the restriction against eating human flesh were lifted someday, the consequences would be unimaginable. Only by turning Iwakatsu back into a human can I leave the world of Demon Slayer without any worries.
Yan Sheng seemed to have anticipated my actions. Even after being injected with the drug that turned him back into a human, I sensed that he was very calm and showed no surprise whatsoever.
He reached out and hugged me, saying in a calm voice devoid of any anger, "It's alright, it's good to become human again, at least you won't be this ugly anymore."
I breathed a sigh of relief and was about to help him accelerate the circulation of the drug in his body to speed up his transformation back into a human when Yan Sheng let go of me and said, "It's time to go."
"Where to?" I blurted out this silly question without thinking. Yan Sheng turned and left the room without looking back, saying, "To find Yoriichi!"
I hurried after him, a bad feeling creeping into my heart.
Before long, a huge tremor began beneath my feet, as if an earthquake had struck and the entire city began to shake and rise, eventually breaking through the ground and emerging outside.
Standing amidst the ruins, I was still gazing blankly at the Taisho-style city under the moonlight when Muzan suddenly sprang up from the ruins not far away. His body was covered in mouths, and he had many tentacles with blades at the ends. His appearance was truly unbearable to look at.
The next moment, the Water Pillar, Wind Pillar, Love Pillar, Serpent Pillar, and Mist Pillar Muichiro all rushed forward to attack Muzan. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered. Muzan's wounds healed too quickly; his neck would heal instantly the moment it was severed, and he wouldn't die even after his head was cut off. As a result, the Pillars could only barely hold off Muzan and were no match for him at all.
Just then, Yoriichi emerged from the ruins in the night, causing Muzan, who had been appearing completely at ease, to immediately show an expression of utter shock, almost screaming, "Hundreds of years! How can you still be alive?!"
The usually gentle and serene Yui stared expressionlessly at Muzan Kibutsuji, emanating a powerful aura so heavy it was suffocating.
Seeing Yoriichi continue towards him, Muzan, his face filled with terror, instinctively tried to escape, but was held back by several Pillars and couldn't get away. He immediately yelled at Iwakatsu beside him, "Kuroshibo! What are you still standing there for? Protect me! Kill Yoriichi Tsugikuni!"
I thought Kokusatsu wouldn't even acknowledge Muzan, but to my surprise, he stepped forward and blocked Yoriichi's path, causing me to exclaim, "Kokusatsu! What are you doing? Why are you listening to that guy?!"
“I’m not listening to him, I just want to settle things with Yoriichi here.” Iwakatsu said in an unusually calm tone, then looked at his younger brother in front of him and said in a deep voice, “Draw your sword, let me die a glorious death, and then you can go and kill Muzan.”
I'm going crazy! Why does Kokusatsu always pull so many crazy moves? Could it be that he deliberately chose this irresistible time because Yoriichi refused to fight him before?
Yoriichi's unusually sharp gaze was fixed on Muzan Kibutsuji, who was being besieged by the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps and was trying to escape. He then gripped his Nichirin Blade and looked at Iwakatsu, saying, "Brother, I'm sorry."
Kokushi gripped his Nichirin Blade tightly, wanting to have a fair fight with Yoriichi. However, the next moment, a large amount of blood gushed from his neck. Yoriichi, who appeared behind him in an instant, easily severed half of Kokushi's neck.
Seeing this scene sent chills down my spine. Kokushibo, who could easily defeat Upper Moon Two, had been practicing his swordsmanship diligently for hundreds of years, yet he couldn't even draw his sword in front of Yoriichi. It was terrifying. Yoriichi's swordsmanship was so strong that it was like a causal weapon that was destined to win.
After defeating Kokushiro, Yoriichi went straight to kill Muzan. Kokushiro, filled with resentment, also felt intense hatred and endless frustration. When I felt the surging, raging emotions within him, I even felt the pain of his internal organs being burned to ashes.
I noticed that Yan Sheng's mentality had completely collapsed, and his emotions were so intense that the blood on his neck was flowing even more profusely. I rushed over and, while treating his neck injury, anxiously called out, "Yan Sheng! Calm down! You didn't lose to Yoriichi, you lost to this world! This world is set up so that Yoriichi is the strongest swordsman, so no matter how hard you try, you can't defeat him. Please stop being so stubborn, you'll drive yourself to your death!"
As I said this, tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to curse the unfairness of fate on his behalf. Kokushiro had tried his best, but he just couldn't defeat Yoriichi. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 17:27:27 on March 4, 2021 and 21:00:54 on March 5, 2021!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Tanuki (10 bottles); Izumi no Kami Kanesada (3 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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